1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to containers repeatedly used for transportation of products.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art has provided a container of the above-mentioned type made of plastic and having side walls inclined downwardly inward so that a cross-sectional area thereof is gradually decreased from an open upper end to a bottom thereof. When not used for the product transportation, a plurality of the containers are fitted into one another to be laid one upon another while prevented from becoming bulky. Thus, the containers can be laid one upon another since the side walls thereof are inclined downwardly inward. However, the weight of the containers tightly engages one container with another when they are laid one upon another, whereupon the containers cannot easily be disengaged from one another.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a transportation container which can be prevented from being engaged tightly with one another such that the containers can easily be detached from one another when a plurality of the containers are laid one upon another.
The present invention provides a transportation container comprising a generally box-shaped body having a plurality of side walls and a bottom, the body having an open upper end with two pairs of corners, the side walls being inclined downwardly inward so that a cross-sectional area thereof is gradually decreased from the upper end to the bottom thereof, and a lid attached to the body so as to cover the open upper end of the body, the lid of one container being placed inside the body so as to support the bottom of another container and so as to define a space between the bottoms of said one and another containers when said another container is fitted into said one container to be put one upon the other.
According to the above-described container, when the lid of one container is placed inside the body thereof, the body of another container put onto said one container is supported by the lid. Consequently, even when a number of containers are laid one upon another, they can be prevented from being engaged tightly with one another and accordingly can easily be detached from one another.
In a preferred form, the lid includes a first lid portion covering a portion of the upper end of the body including one pair of corners and a second lid portion covering another portion of the upper end of the body including the other pair of corners, and the first and second lid portions have such respective complementary shapes as to be superposed on each other into a shape of a box. Since the paired lid portions are superposed one upon the other into the box shape, the strength of the lid can be increased and a number of container bodies can be supported.
In another preferred form, each of the first and second lid portions has a plurality of protrusions engaging an upper end of the body to thereby prevent the lid from falling off from the body. Since each lid portion is held on the upper end of the body by the protrusions, the container can be prevented from being spread or flexed due to the weight of the product accommodated in it.